


An Adventuring Company of the Inquisition

by kaleidoscopes



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2015-12-13
Packaged: 2018-05-04 10:19:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5330543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaleidoscopes/pseuds/kaleidoscopes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The tales of everyone's favorite adventuring company.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Young Hopeful

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cecania](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cecania/gifts), [Bandshe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bandshe/gifts).



The Inquisition patrols were always a welcome sight in the village, a sign that order was coming and they’d set things right again. The Inquisition was all anyone talked about, and the tavern was always abuzz with tales of the Herald of Andraste herself, the woman they say closed the hole in the sky. I’d do anything to be apart of something so grand and noble, but I was just a simple farm hand, no fighting skills to speak of, unless you count using a stick as a makeshift sword, and I was sure that wouldn’t count to an army like the Inquisition. My Pa caught me swinging that imaginary sword around in the fields one day.  _ Donnie,  _ he said,  _ these crops aren’t going to plow themselves. Get to work.  _ Us Sutherland’s had been farming these lands for as far back as anyone could remember, but I had always had dreams of doing something more. I was sick of farming. I wanted to make a difference in the world, and make my family proud. 

That night I shoved my belongings into a spare pack and wrote a letter to Ma and Pa explaining that I was off to do right by them, and then set out into the night on my horse. They said that the Inquisition base was not far from where Haven used to be, before it got all destroyed. I was a two days ride from home when I spied the Inquisition banners off in the distance, probably a patrol. From my vantage point on the hill I could also see the shadowy figures stalking behind them. Looked well-armed too, from what I could see. There was no way I could take on bandits unarmed, but I could sneak around them and warn the patrol. As I made my way up the path, I spied more bandit camps and made a note in my mind of where they were so I could tell the patrol. When I reached the Inquisition patrol, they whipped out their swords so fast it spooked my horse good it did, and he nearly dumped me right on my ass. I told them about the bandits that had been following them.  _ Three groups of them, all along the side of the road _ , I said.  _ I can show you where they are. I can help if you have a spare sword.  _ Instead of fighting the bandits right then and there they decided to take me back to the Inquisition base. Skyhold they called it, what an incredible name for an incredible place. The name was fitting too, with it’s tall towers it looked like it really was holding up the sky. One of the soldiers led me to the tavern, a warm place filled with song and laughter, and bought me a pint. He said he’d take my information to the Inquisitor and that something would be done about the bandits, and that I had the thanks of him and his men, and that if I was needed someone would come for me. I nursed that pint as I walked around the tavern and looked at the people. The pretty bard with the sweet voice, the handsome man that perched on the back of his chair to watch the pretty bard and the hulking qunari warrior were on the first floor. The second floor held more talking patrons and a small, surly elf that told me to piss off when I greeted her. The third floor was strangely empty, but in a way that made the hairs on my neck stand up. So I grabbed a table on the second floor and waited to see if anyone would come back for me. 

_ I hope I can help somehow _ , I lamented out loud.  _ Maybe cleaning? _ Just then a small elven woman with long red curls walked up to me. It wasn’t her beauty that really struck me, but the green glow to her hand, just like the folks in the tavern back home had said the Herald had. 

“Oh, Inquisitor! I-uh, I joined. Sutherland, Your Worship. I saw some bandits, so I came to warn people. I’ll let your warriors know then stay out of the way,” I said.

She thanked me for my information then took her leave. Soon after that, as I was still getting over meeting the Herald of Andraste herself, a man in Inquisition gear came to fetch me. Needed my help, he said. I was ecstatic, this was finally my chance. They outfitted me with a leather jerkin and a sword. I finally had a real sword! They even gave me some training on how to use it. They hired me on to fight the bandits,  _ in the name of the Inquisition,  _ they said. I even had a small stipend of money in advance.

As I headed out through the main gate of Skyhold, my heart swelled with pride. If only my father could see me now, his only son working for the great Inquisition. When I began my approach to the first bandit camp, I could hear the sounds of fighting. Kicking my horse into motion, I rushed into the camp to save whoever the bandits had decided to accost. My feelings of heroism were tempered slightly when I reached the camp to find that I really wasn’t needed to save the day. Far from a helpless passer-by, the bandits had decided to instead attack an elven mage who had taken out nearly all the bandits with his magic. Swinging off my horse, I charged at the remaining villains, determined to be of use somehow. Once the battle was over, I turned to the mage and asked his name. Instead of answering, he shook his head and pulled out a small piece of paper with  _ Voth  _ written on it. 

“Is that your name? Voth?” I asked him, and he nodded his head. “Pleasure to meet you Voth, you’re one hell of a fighter. My names Sutherland. Donald Sutherland.” I held out my hand to shake his, and after a moment’s hesitation he returned the handshake before making a gesture with his hands. “There are more bandits up ahead, do you want to join me? I can pay you, and make sure no one gives you trouble for being a, uh, you know.” He made another gesture with his hands before nodding at me. The next two bandit camps were easily dealt with before we headed back to Skyhold. 

 


	2. A Patrol for the Crew

Shortly after Voth and I returned to Skyhold, the Inquisitor found us drinking in the tavern, soaking up the sights and sounds. _Inquisitor! It was amazing! Ahem- I’m sorry. Slow down._ The Inquisitor was so beautiful, it was hard not to act a fool. I never knew how to act in front of beautiful women. _Your quartermaster outfitted me, and I got training to hunt down the bandits near my home. In your name_! I nodded to Voth. _I hired Voth here. Don’t tell anyone, he’s a- a mage. A good one though._ I hoped that since the Inquisitor had allied with the mages, she’d be sympathetic. _Thank you for trusting me Your Worship. I’ll pay you back, I swear._ I half expected her to ask me to return the gear and go home, but instead what she said made my heart soar. _Good work,_ she said, _keep with the training. We’ll need every hand._ She spoke with a smile in her eyes, but a sincere, kind smile. _Yes! Yes, Your Worship. We will do just that. Won’t we Voth? He doesn’t speak,_ I explained to the Inquisitor, _but he’s thankful too._ Voth just nodded and made a hand gesture near his mouth. With a final smile and nod, she walked off, heading upstairs and through the door that led to the ramparts. “She’s a beauty, isn’t she Voth? And so kind too. I can’t believe she took the time to come talk to us!”

I continued my sword training in the yard out back of the tavern, even learning some pointers from Cassandra Pentaghast, the former right hand of the Divine and founding member of the current Inquisition! She is a total force of nature who was a better fighter than I could ever dream to be. But most of the time I sparred with the other Inquisition soldiers, many who were farm boys like myself before joining up. Everyone was equal in the eyes of the Inquisition, and I was grateful for that. Grateful that few people looked down on me for working on a farm my whole life, like my father and his father before him. After a long day of training it was nice to return to our spot in the tavern for a cold mug of ale. Voth had found a small leather bound journal to write in so we could talk, although I was beginning to understand some of his hand gestures.

It was after one of these grueling training sessions that a runner came to find me in the tavern, saying that Commander Rutherford needed to speak to me in his office. I followed him out of the tavern and up the stone steps to the ramparts, to the Commander’s office. I gave a small bow and a smile to the Inquisitor, who was just leaving. Her curls looked disheveled and her already full lips were red and swollen, and the thought of what I had nearly walked in on made my heart sink. From underneath his hood the runner rolled his eyes slightly, like this was a common occurrence. “Thank you Jim, dismissed,” the Commander said, and the runner turned on his heel to leave, leaving me alone with the imposing Commander of the Inquisition’s forces. Who in all likelihood had just been kissing- no, best not to think about that.

  
“We’ve recently had some more requests for patrols in the area where you took out those bandits, and Inquisitor Lavellan thinks you’re perfect for the task. I’d like to give you sanction to requisition resources for these patrols. Do you think you are up for the task?” His voice was stern as he asked me. I got the impression that he did just about everything sternly.

 

“Of course, ser. Right away, ser.” I couldn’t believe we had another mission, this one coming straight from the top, and I wouldn’t dare pass up the opportunity to make the Inquisitor proud.

As I left his office, I found Voth waiting outside the door with a curious expression on his face. “The Inquisitor is sending us on a patrol!” I explained to him. Tapping his fingers to his mouth in an expression I’d come to understand as his way of saying good, Voth followed me down the stairs from the ramparts and to the requisitions office. After getting all of the equipment that we would need for our patrol, we left the office, which was a relief because the requisitions officer was more than a little insufferable, one of the few people at Skyhold to look down on me. Outside in the training yard we passed Cassandra, and a beautiful dark skinned woman I’d never seen before. She was skewering training dummies with her deadly looking daggers when I caught her eye and smiled. Looking me up and down, she walked over to Voth and I, and despite the scowl on her face, introduced herself as Shayd.

“Nice to meet you Shayd, I’m Sutherland. Donald Sutherland. And this here is Voth.” Voth gave a small salute like gesture. “He means ‘hello.’ He doesn’t speak.” Still scowling, Shayd tapped her foot rhythmically.

“Okay, okay, I was told that you might have some work for me to do. I’d like to sign on to your company.” I was momentarily stunned. _I had a company!_

“It’s just a simple patrol mission,” I explained to her, “but we’d be real happy to have you along.” She just nodded in response, scowl slightly lessening, which I took to be her version of looking pleased.

 

The patrols were easy enough, with only a few bandits on the road, but people should feel safer travelling and we made sure they knew that they owed that to the Inquisition. We three got into a quick rhythm, fighting as a solid team. I was proud. The free time on the way back to Skyhold gave me time to try to crack Shayd’s surly shell, which wasn’t easy. I wondered what her story was.

 

“So Shayd, where are you from?” It seemed a simple enough question and a good place to start a conversation.

 

“Does it matter where I come from?” she said with a frustrated sigh.

“No, I guess not. I just wanted to know you better, if we’re to be working together.” I said to her.

She was silent for several minutes. I looked over at Voth, who just shrugged back at me.

“Haven.” I could barely hear her whisper. “I’m from Haven.”

“Oh. I’m terribly sorry.” I felt a fool for questioning her now. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Just forget about it, okay?”

  
I turned to Voth, giving him a panicked look, but he just gave me a bewildered shrug. I didn’t know how to make this right, so I just stayed silent on our way back to Skyhold. I hoped that I hadn't torn apart my company just as it formed. 


End file.
